


A Haunting We Will Go

by JackOfNone



Category: Pokemon GO
Genre: Fluff, Other, Slice of Life, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 06:51:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20560040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackOfNone/pseuds/JackOfNone
Summary: Blanche and Candela do some field research.





	A Haunting We Will Go

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kie/gifts).

> Based on a true story (sort of) and in celebration of Gen 5 being added to the game :) 'tis the season. Enjoy!

"Candela, please. There is no such thing as ghosts. You're not a child." 

Candela had perched herself on Blanche's desk. Blanche's OTHER desk, mind -- there was no way Blanche would put up with anyone sitting on the desk they were currently using, but luckily they had no fewer than three in their office. It still made Blanche frown very slightly, which Candela knew was an indication that they were just a touch irritated. Blanche was so level-headed they were difficult to tease sometimes, so every small victory was important. Candela treasured every indication that she had gotten under Blanche's thick skin. 

"There's a whole classification of ghost Pokemon," Candela said. "Is it really so far-fetched?"

"Yes. It is." Blanche glanced up briefly from their book before going back to chewing on the end of their pen and trying to give off the air of someone deep in important thoughts. "Pokemon are not human beings, and ghost types are not the 'souls' of deceased ANYTHING." The air quotes were almost audible around the word "soul" -- Blanche was ever the skeptic, for all that they had given their research team the "Mystic" moniker. 

Carefully, so as not to jostle any of Blanche's important mess, Candela crossed her legs, emphasizing their length. Blanche's eyes flickered away from their book for a fraction of a second at this, and Candela couldn't suppress a tiny smile. "All right, but then how do you explain what those trainers saw at that Pokes--"

Blanche waved their hand, as if to dismiss whatever Candela was going to say next. "A trainer who's spent all day on his feet, in this unseasonably hot weather? Checking in at a research station at close to midnight? Candela, please. He was mistaken. He did not see a "ghost Pokemon trainer" -- it could have been anything. A humaniform Pokemon, like Jynx, or a fairy-type who enjoys playing pranks." 

"None were reported in the area, though." 

"Or a perfectly ordinary person, who simply appeared to vanish due to a trick of the light and the trainer's fatigue. Or the trainer was lying. He would not be the first person to have exaggerated his experiences in an attempt to garner further attention." 

"I would be careful of throwing around accusations like that," Candela said. Blanche, for all their cleverness, had walked right into her conversational trap. "You DO know that the reports of a haunted Pokestop are coming from YOUR researchers, right? All the reports were from Mystic team members, with one exception. There's a gym right next to the place that's prime Mystic territory. Barely ever changes hands." 

Blanche stopped chewing on the end of their pen. Checkmate. 

"Now are you up for a little investigative mission?" Candela said. "Or should I go tell your field team their claims were dismissed as the ravings of fatigue-addled liars?"

"All right, all right. I see where you're going with this." Blanche stood up from their desk, shutting their book with a thud and tucking their pen behind their ear. "Let's get this over with, and maybe we'll actually find something useful while we're out." 

Candela clapped her hands. "Brilliant! I hope you don't mind walking?" 

"Of course not," Blanche replied, "but I'm taking the train in any case. I have some reading to catch up with." 

Well, drat, Candela thought. There goes a good hour of leisurely social time into the black hole of Blanche's academic pursuits. At least they'd have a nice outing at the end of it, though. 

Candela didn't exactly think there was anything to the rumors spreading like wildfire throughout Team Mystic, either, but it did make for a great excuse to get stuffy old Blanche out of their office once in a while. 

\---

The nexus of all this paranormal activity, even in the ruddy light of the rapidly setting sun, looked extremely ordinary. No creaking mansions with boarded up windows, no dark caves or windswept bogs -- just a long stretch of concrete parking lot surrounded by several strips of sparse woodland. On the corner, a small gym was situated, its flagpole flying a blue pennant -- Team Mystic territory. 

For all that Blanche liked to think they were above petty rivalry, it still made their heart proud to see the Articuno banner flapping in the wind. The research station itself was placed on the far edge of the parking lot, right outside of what had once been a Pokemart. At one point it might have been a much more trafficked place than it was now, but at the moment it looked almost derelict, with a few stray stores of pokeballs and healing items stashed under the lean-to that desperately needed replenishment, and a research PC with a screen that was in dire need of a cleaning. 

The abandoned Pokemart itself loomed over the scene like a squat Politoad. Local urban legends flourished about why this particular location had closed -- everything from tax evasion to some unspecified crime committed among the employees -- but close it had, and the area had moved on. A new, more modern Pokemart had opened up nearby, and the building was left to rot, empty. 

"Is that the place?" Blanche's Glaceon coiled around their ankles, every bit as graceful as its trainer. The pokemon's ears were perked up, catching every minute sound, and in its mouth it carried the lead of a small, docile Drifloon -- the fickle balloon pokemon were known to drift slightly in the direction of others of its type, when it detected their presence. At the moment, the Drifloon was bobbing enigmatically above Blanche's head, seemingly without a care in the world. 

"Sure is," Candela chirped. "Now, reports have been saying that someone is leaving Pokemon in that gym over there." Here, Candela gestured towards the Mystic training grounds, as though there was any other gym in sight. "The Pokemon mysteriously vanish the moment no one is looking at them, and nobody can track down the trainer who leaves them. And over there," Candela pointed towards the abandoned Pokemart, "people have seen lights flickering. Heard voices and footsteps. Dark figures that vanish into thin air. You know, ghost stuff." 

"Yes. I perused the reports on the way." Truth to tell, being around Candela really threw Blanche off. It wasn't that she didn't take things seriously, exactly -- when she had a mind to, she could be deadly serious. It was more that she had a way of lightening the mood just by existing that Blanche found...Difficult to process. "I think we should have a look inside." 

"Inside the abandoned building?" Candela cocked her head to the side in mock indignition. "Why, Blanche! That's trespassing. We warn all our trainers not to do that. I'm shocked." 

"No, you aren't." 

"...Blanche. Dear. That was a joke." 

A smile played at the very corners of Blanche's mouth. "I'm aware. I didn't think it was funny." 

Candela beamed at them. "Fair enough," she laughed. "The service entry on the back is rusted through. One good shot from a Fighting-type should do it." At this, Candela hefted one of her Pokeballs meaningfully -- she usually kept her pokemon contained until needed. They were well trained, but still a rowdy bunch to a 'mon.

Her Hitmonlee made short work of the lock -- it fairly exploded in a shower of rust from one swift kick, after which the creature bowed and retreated back into its Pokeball, seemingly disappointed there wasn't more to fight. 

It wasn't until they were deep inside the abandoned Pokemart that Blanche realized Candela had called them "dear", and furthermore, they didn't really mind it. 

\----

It was pitch dark inside -- almost too dark. Blanche's Glaceon shed a gentle blue radiance, illuminating the immediate area, but beyond that circle of light was a deep blackness. So far, the darkness had only hidden deteriorating store fixtures and abandoned pieces of equipment that no one had seen the need to haul away. 

Regardless, Candela was kind of having fun with this -- the ambiance was sort of like a carnival haunted house. She half expected a cardboard stand-up of a Gengar to pop out at her at any moment.

Blanche, however, had been mostly quiet since they'd entered the building. Blanche was usually quiet, but one came to recognize many kinds of silence when you spent time with them. This was more of a thoughtful, wary silence. 

"Something the matter?"

"Mysterious figures...disappearing pokemon..." Blanche mused. "You don't think all this could be attributed to Team Rocket activity, do you?"

Candela frowned. "...I hadn't thought of that. Seems unlikely. What would be the point of just scaring a couple of field researchers?" 

"That might have been a side effect of whatever else they're planning." 

Well, THAT was one way to bring down the mood of a ghost-hunting session. Blanche shrugged. "I mean, you're right. It's unlikely. But we should consider all possibilities."

They turned the corner together, rounding a nearly floor to ceiling corner of empty store fixture find themselves in what must have been a small rest area for tired trainers at one point -- the lumpy, decaying remains of several worn couch cushions had even been abandoned in the center, their usefulness long past. By the looks of them, they'd played host to a few generations of drooling, chew-happy Snubbulls. 

"You know," Blanche said quietly, scooting a bit closer to Candela. "I am...starting to see how one could imagine ghost sightings out here. In the dark, like this, with Glaceon lighting up the scene, it almost seems like..."

Candela smiled, reaching out for Blanche's shoulder carefully, like one might coax a shy Vulpix. "Like...?"

"...like it's moving." 

And then, the entire arrangment of furniture lurched forward with a noise like a gallon of mud being flung from a bucket. 

The shock of the creature's blow knocked Candela clear off her feet, sweeping her down in a torrent of thick, translucent goo that shimmered faintly green in the Glaceon's light. As she hit the ground, she could vaguely make out something that looked like a head suspended within the flowing goop -- two black dots for eyes, a gaping mouth, and an almost vestigial-looking body. And the SOUND it made...a screech far past the edge of hearing that was making her dizzy. Her fingers slipped on the smooth surface of her pokeballs, fumbling for their catch. 

"What the hell?" Candela heard Blanche snap. She'd never heard them swear before, so they must have been REALLY caught off guard. "Why didn't that show up on the radar? It's HUGE!"

"It's Unovan--" Candela tried to say, but the pokemon was pinning her down with amorphous limbs, screeching in her ears, drowning out her thoughts. "Psychic--" Her Hitmonlee would be useless. She had to...had to...was that Glaceon's cry, or Blanche screaming her name? 

And then, just as suddenly as it had began, it was over. 

The Pokemon that struck the rogue Reuniclus was bathed in an unearthly purple light and howled like a demon. It struck with enough force to knock the Reuniclus clear off of Candela; its dizzying screech instantly disrupted, Candela managed to struggle to her feet just in time to see what must have been the finest Gengar she had ever encountered raise its massive head and regard her with a baleful eye before it turned its attention back to its opponent. Shadow swarmed around its feet, the Reuniclus yelped in terror, and then -- with the sudden burst of human-like laughter common to Ghost-types that had just pulled off a successful prank -- the both of them vanished. 

Candela took a long moment to catch her breath, and clear her head after the pokemon's psychic assault. "Good thinking," she said, when she could speak again. "I should've brought a Ghost-type myself. Fighting is useless against Psychic...and I had no idea you had such a well-trained Gengar." 

"I don't." It was so quiet that, at first, Candela didn't hear them. 

"What?"

"I don't have a Gengar." 

"Blanche, I saw a pokeball. If you're trying to make a joke--" 

"No, I'm serious. I don't have a Gengar. It wasn't mine." The silence that stretched out between them was long and filled with speculation. In the darkness of the abandoned Pokemart, Blanche's face was drained of color. "Candela?" 

"...yes?"

"Can..." Blanche swallowed, clearly spooked. "I'd like it if...if you stayed close on...on the way out." 

Smiling gently, Candela took Blanche's trembling hands in hers. 


End file.
